Cooke County — Have you ever envied someone who seems to have enough energy to power several people besides herself? How about someone who seems to get more done than three other people combined?

Those who know Jane Martin would probably agree that she is a prototype for both energy and efficiency. A cowgirl kind of gal, she makes it her business to see that things get done for the project or program at hand.

Recently, Martin has been one of the key players behind organizing and putting on Rodeo Gainesville, an event that was met with great success over the weekend. She worked tirelessly on her end to help make sure that everything was done right.

“I was a quality control officer,” she noted, “I’m very detail-oriented.”

Martin is a member and an ardent fan of the Gainesville Riding Club and has been for about 11 years.

If you have attended the GRC Playday, you have seen her in the arena competing in the pattern and timed events such as barrel racing, pole-bending and flags on her competition horses, Sweet Eddie Freckles and Rodeown Cash.

When she isn’t on her horse at the events, you can probably find her in the concession stand helping out or up above the club’s arena in the emcee box handing out ribbons to the winners of the different competitions.

Martin has served in many responsibilities to support the club, and is presently the 1st Lieutenant. “Gathering the troops” for parades, trail rides and other activities is one of her talents she said. She joined because a friend told her it would be a good place to go to ride because she had such an interest in horses.

Horses have been a part of Martin’s life since she was a little kid. Her first horse was a buckskin mare, an old cowhorse that was passed down to her from her grandfather.

Martin works with Sycamore Creek Ranch as a bookkeeper. Her husband, Wesley, is the ranch manager there.

She lives on the ranch as well, which is north of Dexter.

“I do get to ride my horse to work,” she said. “That’s one good thing about living on a ranch. Ranch life is so peaceful and beautiful. It’s so far from town. When you go to town to do errands, you make a day of it and in the summer you’d better bring a cooler. I can’t really say that there’s a downside, except maybe but sometimes the store seems a long way away.”

She and Wesley met at a dance hall in Wichita Falls.

“We both love to dance,” she said, “and I asked him to dance. And that was it.”

He doesn’t care for horses much she said, but he is a competition coon hunter and raises bluetick coon hounds.

Together they have two sons, Garrett Martin and Michael Stoddard, and six grandkids.

For fun, she likes to sew and said she can make anything out of an old pair of jeans. Her 10-year-old granddaughter, Brooke, proudly displays a jeans purse her Nana made for her.

Gardening, being creative, going to Lake Texoma and fishing for bass and catfish are hobbies and of course, having all kinds of animals.

“I like animals, all except those snakes in the front of the house. Snakes are endangered at my house,” she said.

One of her “life philosophies” is, “be kind to everybody.”

“It’s just my nature,” Martin said, and mentioned her grandfather who she said exhibited that behavior to her. He never hollered, which she remembers clearly. She hopes her grandchildren feel the same affection for her that she has for him.

“She doesn’t yell,” confirmed Brooke.

Martin said her grandfather also made sure the grandkids had horses to ride. He rented a place for them to board their horses and bought them horses so they could ride.

Her father was also an inspiration to her. He was a welder and could make anything out of steel, she said. He built plows, farm implements, windmills and art, among other things. She credits him with much of her creativity, which came from watching and learning from him.

Martin said she gets her high energy from “good metabolism.” She jokes about the teasing she gets from friends sometimes about her energy level.

Though sometimes you may be tempted to activate her “off” button or sequester her in the closet for awhile to bring down the current activity level, her high octane and “life of the party” personality usually make her a welcome asset.